Rick Poynor on the Russian prison tattoo flash art of Danzig Baldaev on show in London along with photographs of tattooed prisoners by Sergei Vasiliev:

“Many of the tattoos are grotesque, sexually explicit and obscene. Politicians receive a savage satirical battering. Skulls are everywhere. In the books, the drawings — often reminiscent of Robert Crumb’s — are mostly presented one to a page. We now see that Baldaev, using visual notes he made while doing his job, would later work up several finished drawings on one sheet, showing similar types of tattoo. These are surrounded by rubber stamps consisting of his name and a filing number, often whited out later, and replaced by a new number in pencil.” Design Observer